Family Bonds
by KH777
Summary: Based after Conquest route so probably spoilers! Nohr is peaceful after the war ended with Xander at its helm. But, what happens when something breaks their peaceful bubble and Corrin, Elise and Leo are kidnapped?
This is a _Fire Emblem Fates_ fan fiction. Based after Conquest so spoilers! And btw, I made Silas one of Corrin's retainers because he's awesome. Also, I gave them ages but I have no clue if this is actually their age or not.

Everything was peaceful now. Xander was quite the merciful, kind king so; he had already put several programs into practice to help the blight of his people. The poor, oppressed people were now praising Xander. Corrin and Elise even went down at least once a week to feed the people in the capital and show their good will. But, since the change in Nohr had just taken place, some people were still doubtful, hateful even.

As soon as Corrin and Elise left today, a horrid feeling placed itself in the pit of seventeen-year-old Leo's stomach, and it just wouldn't go away. It was screaming that something was wrong, something was going to happen. Something awful. Leo couldn't stay here; he'd learned long ago that sometimes it's better to be paranoid. No time to summon his retainers, he'd just have to go on his own. Leo mounted his horse and set off, desperately hoping that he was wrong.

...

"Here you go." Elise smiled, about to hand someone a basket of food. Nineteen-year-old Corrin was beginning to sense something was wrong as well, and was about to tell his fourteen-year-old sister that they should go. But he didn't get the chance. The person, who she was handing the basket to, snatched her and held her at sword point. Others from all different directions came to support the one.

"Elise!" Corrin yelled but he couldn't move in to help her, not without endangering her.

The only thing Corrin could tell about them was that they did not belong to any of the other countries. The only thing linking them together was that they all wore different combinations of the same color.

The woman holding Elise smirked.

"What's this? I didn't think it would be this easy. I certainly underestimated you all..."

What the heck were Corrin and Elise's retainers doing?! Corrin could really use their aid right now.

"S-stop it! You big meanie!" Elise yelped but she ignored her.

"What do you want?" Corrin questioned, hand lingering close to his sword.

"Oh, it's quite simple really... but I don't feel the need to explain it to you."

"C-Corrin!" Elise warned as one of the members was sneaking behind him. But she wasn't fast enough and neither was he. The person behind him was too skilled. He struck Corrin's head from behind, knocking him unconscious.

...

Leo didn't get there fast enough but when he did, it didn't take him long to figure out what happened. Simply from their absence, to the horrified townspeople. Corrin and Elise were already gone, but they still remained. Leo wasn't about to let them get away.

"What do you think you're doing? You know what this will result in, don't you?" Leo remarked bitterly.

"Of course we do; but not in the way that you think." One of them, definitely one of the leaders, replied.

"Oh yeah? We'll see about that." Leo challenged. "But if you tell me where you took them, maybe I'll be more merciful."

"That's not going to happen."

It was going to happen. There was no way that Leo would allow them to get away with kidnapping his siblings. He would never allow this to happen!

And, the battle began. Leo was strong and easily took out many of them but more kept streaming in. He was definitely outnumbered but perhaps he could have made it until help arrived. With all this commotion, it couldn't be far off. That was until, their _real_ leader showed up. Worn down from fighting so many of them, their leader managed to defeat him.

So, there he lay on the ground, consciousness fading. Why was he so pathetic...? He couldn't do anything to protect them! Why couldn't he make it just a little... longer...?

"Sweet dreams, _prince._ "

...

"I'm so sorry, Big Brother. This is all my fault..." Elise apologized.

"No, it wasn't your fault Elise." Corrin replied, rubbing his aching head gently. "None of us had any clue this was going to happen..."

"B-but..."

"I know you're upset, Elise, but please. We need to stay strong, okay?"

Elise nodded in agreement.

They were trapped in an abandoned dungeon of sorts and honestly at a loss for what to do. This was so unexpected... and horrible.

"I-It's just that... we're finally got what we wanted! We finally *sniff* get to live peacefully as a family without any war or anything hanging over our heads! I ruined... our... our *sob* perfect..."

Corrin was at a loss for a few seconds before he pulled his younger sister into a hug.

"It's okay, Elise. This isn't your fault. That... it couldn't have been prevented. Even if we had escaped, they still would have come after us again. We would have had to fight them." Corrin assured. "Actually, I'm sure Xander and the others will defeat them quickly and everything will go back to normal soon enough."

"M-maybe you're right... *sniff* Xander is king now, after all..."

"See, that's the spirit. He won't let us down."

Yeah, and King Xander would be none too happy about anyone kidnapping his beloved siblings. They certainly weren't going to get away with this... right?

Elise recovered and wiped away her tears.

"Thank you, Corrin. You're right; we have to be strong."

...

"Milady! There's an emergency!" Silas alarmed as soon as he saw Camilla. He was totally out of breath. Camilla recognized Silas immediately as Corrin's retainer and became extremely concerned but kept her composure.

"What is it?" She questioned cautiously, almost not wanting to know.

Silas took a few moments to catch his breath.

"Some of us were surveying the area for danger and some of us were watching over Lord Corrin and Lady Elise but... They were found unconscious and we can't find the two of them anywhere!"

Silas seemed incredibly distressed, and for good reason. This wasn't sounding good at all. Camilla already felt the incoming danger to whomever would do her siblings harm.

"Thanks for telling me, dear. Don't worry, I'll handle this."

Silas sensed her ominous aura and bowed with respect, then left her alone. Not wanting to get caught up in it.

The first thing that Camilla would do is summon her retainers then notify Xander, if he doesn't already know.

...

"Can we like, talk about something else? Do something?" Elise asked. "It's awful just to sit here and do nothing..."

Before Corrin could respond a voice resounded, echoed through the walls.

"Oh, you're lonely are you?!" It questioned, starting both Elise and Corrin. "Well, don't worry! I brought someone for you!"

Oh... no. That was not good. Corrin and Elise's faces became worried. But that was nothing that compared to when they _saw_ him. Their brother, beat up pretty badly and completely out of it, unmoving, but not dead.

"Leo!"

"L-Leo!"

The person just smirked at their horrified reactions and pushed him into the cell with them. Corrin caught him, armor and all, though several parts of it were missing.

"Wait! You can't just leave him like this! He could die!" Corrin exclaimed at his retreating form.

"Just be quiet. I have no intention of doing that; if he dies, I'd get in trouble."

He returned back to them and pushed a small white box between the bars.

"There you go."

He retreated and neither of them stopped him. Corrin gently set Leo down. Elise was almost in tears again but she composed herself. He really looked awful, absolutely awful. Leo would have thought it deplorable to appear in such a 'humiliating' manner. But that hardly mattered now.

"I wish I had my staff..." Elise muttered.

"It's alright. He'll be alright. We just need to use this."

Corrin seemed to be trying to convince himself more than Elise.

"Mmmnn... nghh..."

Leo groaned a little.

"Poor Leo... He probably was trying to save us..."

"Yeah... We have to save him. C'mon Elise."

Elise nodded and they both set out to bandage him. Elise took the lead, as she was the medical expert. To do so, they had to pull off most of the remainder of his armor (he had a battle suit under it) but Leo wouldn't have minded. He probably would have rather had it off. When they had finished Elise spoke.

"I-I'm sure he'll be okay." Elise announced. "His wounds would have only been a problem if we didn't have a medical kit."

"Good. That's a relief." Corrin relaxed a little.

"Like... Doesn't it seem like this person was intentionally trying not to hurt him that badly?"

"I thought the same thing. It seems like he's got a few somewhat serious injuries and the rest are small scale. It's combined that makes it so hard to bear."

"Nngh... mmmnn..."

Leo started to stir a little.

"Hey, Corrin. He's waking up!"

Leo's eyes opened a small fraction.

"...Cor...rin...? Elise...?" Leo mumbled weakly.

"We're here for you, Brother. You're going to be okay." Corrin reassured.

"Yeah! Don't worry about anything." Elise chimed in, trying to sound more like her usual happy self.

Leo looked from the two of them to the space around them.

"...I-I'm... sorry. I couldn't... do anything."

"You did plenty, Leo. But, even you couldn't take them all out by yourself." Corrin pointed out.

"...I knew something was... off. I... should have told the others... but I was worried I'd be too late... But... It didn't make a difference..."

"Relax, Big Brother. Let us handle it. You did your part, let us do ours." Elise smiled. "You should rest."

Leo sighed lightly.

"Fine..."

Leo went back to sleep while Corrin and Elise turned to each other, thinking what they could do now.

...

King Xander could not believe this. He simply could not forgive himself for being so careless. Was the whole thing too reckless? They should have been more heavily guarded. Even though he told himself this, he wasn't sure if it would have made a difference.

The one thing that could have changed was the slow flow of information. They should have known that their siblings were in danger far sooner than when they did. Perhaps because the retainers were incapacitated? But this whole scenario...

Then this was Leo. Who fought bravely but was badly injured in the process. That was what made something in Xander convulse painfully. There was his younger brother, following him in strength, who was fighting all by himself instead of having anyone else fighting by his side.

Then again, this person was quite low. How could you kidnap someone during a good deed such as that?

One thing he knew for certain: he would make this right. He refused to lose any of his siblings after what they had all gone through. This was to be a bump on their road and nothing more. He wouldn't allow it to be any more.

"Xander?" Camilla asked.

Then there was Camilla as well, who was absolutely raring to go. As in beat the crap out of any and everyone who did this to them. Even though her tone was normal, Xander could sense the storm brewing, the whirlwinds of anger. He always paid extra attention to his family so he knew this well enough.

"Calm yourself. We will get nothing accomplished if we act in anger."

"That's easy to say, Darling. But I can tell you're somewhat furious about what happened as well."

"Yes, we shall conquer our anger together."

"Still, what are we going to do about this?"

Xander sighed.

"We have no idea to where they might have been taken. But I have no intention of waiting for them to act. Quite a few of our retainers are on the search now. It seems they have a direction but nothing more." Xander explained. "With only that to go on, we'll have to search for clues along the way."

"And if we encounter one along the way, restrain yourself until we can get some information." Xander added.

"Don't worry. I can restrain myself a little bit but afterwards..."

Xander knew how Camilla felt about doing anything to their beloved siblings so he couldn't expect any more than that. Not after they kidnapped all three of them and badly injured Leo in the process. Any sibling would feel angry about that.

"Afterwards, I cannot restrain myself. They hurt my sweet baby brother and I cannot forgive them."

"I understand. Your anger is justified, sister." Xander replied. "Now, let us depart."

...

A while passed and Leo was beginning to recover from his injuries but there was no sign of rescue.

"What do you think is taking so long...?" Elise asked.

"Probably because these jerks have hidden us and they're having trouble finding us." Leo responded.

"Maybe you're right. But... Don't you think they'd have demanded something from Xander? I mean what was the purpose of this then?" Corrin wondered.

"Hmm... Maybe. Maybe they're stuck in the ways of old Nohr and are trying to get revenege."

"Really?! But Xander has done so much good for everyone!" Elise piped in.

"I agree. But some people have so much anger that will not simply-" Leo flinched and rubbed his side gently.

"Are you okay?" Corrin concerned.

"I'm fine. I just haven't completely recovered yet."

"Well, of course not! You shouldn't push yourself!" Elise said.

"Hush, I'm not pushing myself. I've hardly moved at all." Leo seemed quite annoyed, feeling this ridiculous and a bit insulting. "I'm not so weak that the slightest movement will set me off."

"Ah, sorry..."

There was silence for a second or two.

"It's fine." Leo assured. "I... apologize. I shouldn't have gotten annoyed. You didn't mean anything by it."

"It's okay!"

Elise recovered quickly, she seemed pleased that Leo was doing so well. Corrin was as well.

"What were you saying, Leo?" Corrin asked.

"I was just talking about how some people have so much anger that it will not simply dissipate because Nohr no longer does any of those things."

"B-but that's like punishing someone for something they didn't do..." Elise mused sadly.

"That's not how they think about it. They'd think that we should have done something about it and since we couldn't stop it, we are also at fault." Leo added. "Though, there was nothing more that we could have done. We did as much good as we could."

"Especially you, Corrin, who almost got killed on multiple occasions."

Corrin looked sheepish.

"Don't worry, Big Brother! I think it's wonderful that you tried to help them... Though maybe a different way would have been better." Elise smiled.

"Moving on, I think anger might be the most likely reason when we think about it." Leo continued. "I doubt it's ransom. One person would have been plenty."

"I hate to say it. But... I think you're right." Corrin agreed.

"Ah... This is sad, isn't it? I can understand why they'd be upset too..." Elise added.

The room went silent for several seconds until Leo looked over using the corners of his eyes.

"Stay on your toes, here he comes." Leo warned softly.

The man who was supposedly their guard came forward. Leo would have thought about trying for freedom if he had not realized long ago that these people were way too organized to send someone who didn't have ways of preventing their escape.

"You all are so talky. All the chatter almost makes me suspicious." He remarked.

"What else are we supposed to do?" Leo challenged.

"Pfft. I guess that's a good point."

"I know you didn't come here just to chat."

"Of course not." He smirked. "We're going places."

Okay, that was not what they were expecting and the three's eyes widened.

"C'mon."

He swung open the door and expected them to go out. Corrin went over to Leo and put his arm over his shoulders to support him. Leo didn't seem pleased but didn't complain as he didn't want his siblings on his back for pushing himself too hard. Corrin and Leo went out first, followed by Elise.

"Hurry up!"

Corrin and Leo couldn't exactly go any faster as Leo was actually broader shouldered than Corrin even though he was younger. Leo was thinking about why he was in such a hurry. Could it be that...? The three kept going as fast as they could, concerned what he would do if they didn't.

They stopped. Leo was beginning to become a bit out of breath.

"Lean on me more, Leo. You're exhausted."

"Al-alright." Leo admitted. Leo shifted his weight more on Corrin. Meanwhile, the man was searching around for something. Elise was gazing concerned at Leo.

"Are you okay?" Elise worried.

"I'm fine."

The man turned to them.

"Where is it?" He demanded.

"What?" Corrin asked.

"How would we know? We've been stuck in there." Leo said.

He frowned and glared at them. He continued to walk again and they continued to follow him until he took them into another cell. He left them there.

"I think that Xander and Camilla might be nearby." Leo whispered.

"Huh? You really think so?!" Elise piped happily.

"Shh! He might still be nearby." Leo spoke softly.

Elise nodded in understanding.

"I think so because first of all, he was a in a hurry and seemed nervous. Second, what could possibly be the purpose of taking the effort to move us to another cell?" Leo explained. "Unless, they just want us to think that."

"Hmm..." Corrin thought about this.

"Then again, I'm not sure. We probably shouldn't get our hopes up too much." Leo said. "Either way, I do have a plan."

Leo whispered the last part.

"Yeah?" Corrin asked.

"See that part of the wall? The one that's slightly jutting out?"

Corrin and Elise looked around the room but couldn't quite locate where Leo meant. Leo sighed lightly and pointed it out.

"In the history books I've read, prisoners would purposely get captured to dig out secret passages. They would do so by expertly hiding some sort of weapon on them. It was actually a fairly sound strategy until the wrong people kept escaping. The people on the inside would try to make sure their group got put in the right cells, but often that was impossible. But every cell that had a secret passage had a wall very slightly jutting out."

The two soon realized what that meant.

"Leo, you're amazing! You know so much!" Elise smiled.

"Don't praise me yet. We still don't know for sure if this is one of those."

"Here, I'll climb up and check." Corrin said.

"Be careful, Corrin. It'd probably be stuck and you'll have to force it off."

Corrin nodded and began to climb the wall.

"Elise, make sure the coast is clear." Leo said. Elise nodded and walked over to the front of the cell to look out of the bars. Corrin climbed to the area of mention and began pulling on it will all his might while trying not to fall off of the wall. Not an easy task. Corrin didn't give up though, that would be unlike him. He pulled on it for at least fifteen minutes before it finally began to gave way.

"Don't pull it out completely. It'll make a huge boom. Let me lower it down." Leo said.

"Leo? Do you have enough strength for that? It's really heavy."

"Here, let me help." Elise added.

"No, you need to be out look out."

"But-"

"I'll be fine."

"Okay." She gave in. Leo stood up carefully and raised his arms underneath the block of wall.

"Are you ready?" Corrin asked.

"Yes."

Corrin pulled on the rock surface and it slowly came out into Leo's arms. Leo almost fell over because of the weight but he managed to lower it down. Corrin pulled himself into the pitch black passage. Elise looked over and smiled at their new attempt of escape. Leo gestured for her to go next and she nodded. Elise climbed most of the way and Corrin pulled her in the rest of the way. The two of them reached out their hands to Leo.

"C'mon, Big Brother. Let's get out of here." Elise smiled.

"Yeah. We can go home now." Corrin added, also smiling.

Leo couldn't help but smile a bit himself as Corrin and Elise pulled him inside with them with their combined strength. Corrin took the lead, with Elise in the middle and Leo in the back.

The passage was indeed old, dotted with many cobwebs and dust everywhere. They couldn't see anything either as they crawled through the passage. Elise didn't complain though, she never did.

Even though Leo insisted they should hurry since they were bound to be found out soon, they had to take a few breaks for his sake. He was annoyed by it but conceded nevertheless.

After some time, the path ended and they were able to get through to the outside by removing the block of wall at the end.

"Yay! FREEDOM!" Elise yelped happily as she rolled down on the soft grass, laughing. Corrin just smiled at her while Leo leaned against the wall, not wanting to completely sit down. Elise managed to get off some of the dust that now had accumulated on all three of them. They were full of it. Good thing Leo was already bandaged but that would have been bad.

The noise that Elise made had attracted attention but not bad attention... Someone was approaching them and Elise got up off the ground and ran up to them, almost tackling one of them to the ground.

"Big sister!"

"Are you alright dear? Those people didn't do anything mean to any of you did they?" Camilla asked, hugging her little sister. Corrin and Leo followed after Elise, though at a smaller pace. Leo was trying his hardest not to appear weak in front of his older brother. That's the one person who he couldn't let see him like that.

Xander glanced over the three of them, especially Leo, whose whole suit of armor was missing as he felt stupid wearing half of it.

"Are you three alright?"

"We're all fine." Leo replied.

"Yeah, thanks to Leo! He knows everything!" Elise smiled, finally letting go of her older sister.

"Not _everything_." Leo replied. But the air around the five of them was so warm and happy.

"I'm glad to see you all safe and sound." Xander smiled.

"Yes, it would have been absolutely _awful_ if something had happened to any one of you." Camilla added. She turned to Leo. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"I'm fine, sister."

"Leo, there is no need to be ashamed. You fought bravely and didn't give up. Not even I could have done much better." Xander assured as he knew his younger brother all too well. Leo looked to Xander in shock for a moment but didn't seem entirely convinced.

"Without you, we would have had much more trouble with them. But you already weakened their group so much for us." Camilla added. "And don't worry about them; they won't be a problem anymore." She added with a little too sweet smile.

"Ah, good." Corrin said, though he didn't think he wanted to know what exactly happened to them when his big sister was involved.

"Yes. There will be no more trouble." Xander confirmed. "So, let us return, as a family." Xander smiled.

The five of them returned to the castle for peaceful days together.

 _Fin_


End file.
